A solution to California's drought?
New research may have found a solution to address California鈥檚 prolonged period of drought. A聽聽conducted by researchers at Stanford University suggests that California鈥檚 aquifers, underground areas where water collects, may have up to three times the amount of useable groundwater as previously estimated. The research estimates that the previously untapped deep groundwater source could hold up to 2,700 billion tons of freshwater under the state鈥檚 Central Valley. 聽
Historically, deep groundwater aquifers have been developed for gas and oil extraction, rather than used as a viable water source. Stanford鈥檚 study, the first of its kind, calls for further research into the matter so that deep aquifers can be protected from further risk of contamination from oil and gas companies. Ironically, the initial data that formed the basis for the study was provided by the same companies that are at risk of contaminating it. The study found that nearly one-third of gas and oil wells in the state are drilled directly into a source of freshwater. 聽
The study could hold particular significance for the state鈥檚 agricultural sector. California鈥檚 Central Valley produces nearly聽聽of the Nation鈥檚 food including crops like cereal grains, tomatoes, grapes, and a wide聽variety of nuts.
During its four-year drought,聽California has聽relied heavily on groundwater for irrigation purposes. In a given year, farming activities consume between 25 million to 33 million acres of water, an amount so great that the water table has fallen by as much as聽聽in some areas in the Central Valley. The floor of the valley is sinking as quickly as two inches per month causing significant damage to California鈥檚 infrastructure as a result of groundwater depletion.
鈥淣o one is monitoring deep aquifers,鈥� said Mary Kang, one of the authors of the study in a press release, 鈥淲e might need to use this water in a decade, so it鈥檚 definitely worth protecting.鈥�
This article first appeared in .听
